Airship.



T. S. HARRIS.

AIRSHIP.

APPLIOATION FILED 11113.30, 1909.

Patented Nov. 29, 1910.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

' v V anventoz T Jazz; 6, 7/91/7793 T. S. HARRIS.

AIRSHIP.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.30, 1909.

Patented NOV. 29, 1910.

4 SHEETS- SHEET 2.

Summon 93% tueaaco I 61mm,

T. S. HARRIS. AIRSHIP. APPLIOATIOH FILED MAB.30,1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

mummies s. HARRIS, or 'Monnsro, ILLINOIS.

AIRSHIP.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THADDEUS S. HARRIS, a citizen "of the United States, residing at Modesto, in the county of Macoupin and State of Illinois, have invented .new and useful Improvements in Airships,'of which the following is a s ecification.

The invention re ates to an improvement in air ships of that type employing a plurality of rotating wing planes in a horizontal plane designed to exert a direct lift upon the apparatus.

The main-object of the present invention is the provision of'an air ship in which oppositely the planes at desired speed. I

Another ob'ect of the invention is the utilization of the passengercarrying cars as a means for directing the directlon of travel of the air ship,- the car latform being manually adjustable as deslred to shift. .the'w'eight so as to rovide an excess there- .of at one side or t e other of the central standard, the framework asan entirety being so connected to a drivin means as to permit the positioning of said framework so as to cause a tilting of the frame in any desired direction by shifting the weights as described.

The invention will be described in the following specification, reference being had particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which Fi ure 1 is a vertical sectional View of an air ip constructed in accordance with my invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a broken perspective of one of the wing planes. Fig.

4 is a section on line 4,4. of Fig. 1. Figa o ,is a plan view of the power chamber with parts in section.

Referring particularly to the accompanying drawings, wherein is shown the preferred form ofthe present invention myimproved air ship comprises a centrally arranged hollow standard 1, to which at the lower end is secured a rectangular open framework 2, hereinafter referredto as the main frame, and including upper and lower side bars 3 and 4, end bars 5 and cross bars 6. At an appropriate point in its length the standard 1 is provided with spaced annular termed the power chamber. end of the standard is secured a rectangu- ,lar frame 9 corresponding in length and rotating horizontally disposed winged planes are utilized as the lifting power, the driving mechanism being within control of the operator to induce rotation of Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov, 29, 1910,

Application filed March 30, 1909.. Serial No. 486,671.

flanges 7 between which is secured a boxlike structure 8 designed for the reception of the power apparatus, and hereinafter breadth to the main frame, and to the frame :9 encircling the upper end of the standard 1s secured a housing 10, which will be hereina fter termed the pilot house and from 4 which the operator controls the various parts of the apparatus. A

Rotatively encircling the standard 1 above and below the power chamber are sleevelike members 11 and 12, to which members are secured the wing planes to be later described. These members are mounted for free movement about-the standard, being for this purpose supported on any appropriate bearings, the lower standard for example being supported upon bearings formed in an annular flange 13 projecting from the standard 1 immediately above the main frame, while the upper member 12 bears against bearings 14 carried by a flange 15 immediately below the pilot house. The

sleeve sections 11 and 12 are practically identical in construction, each comprising upper and lower flanges 16 and 17'projecting from the sleeve portion of the member and arranged in spaced annular relation, the sleeve section in the lower member being extended above the upper flange and provided With a bevel gear 18, while in the case of the In the upper.

upper 'member the sleeveis extended below. 9.0

the lower flange provided with a bev'el gear 19. The sleeve members are thus of iden tical construction except that the gears of the respective members are arranged at adjacent ends of the members, and by-preference one of the gears, as 18, is of less diameter than the other 19. That portion of the standard wall which is engaged b the respective sleeve members may be, i desired,

cutaway, as at 2, to reduce frictional engagement between the parts in an obvious manner.

, -As before stated the respective wing planes are of identical construction, and for this reason'a detailed description of one will suflice for both In addition to ,the sleeve members forming parts of said planes each plane comprises a rib member 21 made up of upper and lower L-shaped metal strips 22 and 23, which are arranged as shown in Fig.

' the strips.

general circular contour, though for convenience I prefer that they may be made up 3 and maintained in spaced relation by. tie bars 24 secured at appropriate intervals throughout the circumferential extent of The strips are preferably of a to present a eries of angularly related sections so that any particular length in the edge contour of the rim presents a straight line rather than a curved line, as will be clear from Fig. 2. The respective rim-strips and flanges 16 and 17 are connected by a series of wire spokes, for the connection of which the flanges l6 and 17 are formed with a row of circumferentially disposed openings 25, while each rim strip is provided near the angular juncture of the straight sections thereof with links 26. The wire lengths making up the spokes are woven between the particular openings 25 of the flanges and the rim spokes. For example a wire length may be terminally secured to a loop 27 engaging one of the holes in the lower flange 17, from which the wire is projected, as at 28, to one link 26 of the lower tie strip 23, being then carried in the form 'ofa rod 29 to and through a link 30 secured in one ofthe openings 25 of the upper flange 16, being then projected toward the rim to provide a rod 31, which is passed through a link 26 of the lower frame strip 23, and to-- ward the sleeve section to provide a rod which is connected to the first mentioned link 27.. A second length of material is used which is terminally connected to a link 33 secured to the upper flange 16 in vertical alinement with the link 27, from which the material is projected toward the rim in the form of a rod 34' and passed through the link 26 of the upper rinrstrip 22 in alinement with thelink 26 with which the rod 28 is connected. From the link 26 of the strip 22 the material is projected toward the sleeve member to form a rod 35, which is passed through a link 36 connected to the lower flange 17 in vertical 'alinementwith the link, 30 of the upper flange, from which the material is again projected toward the rim in the form of a rod 37 to and through the link 26 carried by the upper strip 22 and in vertical alinement with the lower link 26 through which the rod 32 is connected. From the link 26 noted the material is again extended towardthe sleeve member in the form of a rod 38, which is connected to the link 33, completing the particular length of material. Each straight section of the rimis connected in the described manner to the sleeve member, or more exactly speakin" each juncture of the straight sections is provided with the links 26 and each two "adjacent alined pairs of links are connected in the manner described. To maintain the rigidity and secure the proper disposition of the respective rods it will be noted that rods 28 and 34 are connected by a link 39 while the rods 32 and 38 are connected by a similar link 40. These rods are thus tied together to give the desired direction to the sections beyond the links and also to insure the rigidity. The wings are arranged in series throughout the frame thus described and comprise sheet metal or fabric strips 41, which at one edge are secured to the rods 28 and the equivalent opposing rod 32 from which they extend upwardly at an angle and are connected at the upper edge to the rods 34 and 38. Thus each frame section described nrovides means for securinsr the upper and lower edge of one wing and the upper and lower edge respectively of adjacent wings. In .any particular section of the wire frame-work described there is, of course, but a single strip 41 secured at both upperandlower edges, and in this connection attention is directed to the frame rod 29 which extends from the lower frame strip .23 of the rim to the upper flange 16 of the rim, operating, therefore, to underlie and contact throughout its width with the particular frame wing section 41, thereby operating as a diagonal brace in the support and retention of said wing on the frame.

Within the power chamber is arranged an engine 42 of.any desired type, on the main shaft of which is secured a gear 43. Mounted in advance of the main shaft is an auxiliary shaft 44 on which is slidably mounted a gear 45 carrying one member 45' of a .clutch, the opposing member 45" of which is fixed on the auxiliary shaft. Fixed on the auxiliary shaft is a differential gear includinga body 46 carrying at diametrically opposed points loosely mounted bevel inions 47 Loosely mounted on the auxiliary shaft on opposite sides of the differential gear are bevel gears 48 and 49 on the relativel inner surfaces of which are mounted beve gear racks 49 adapted to engage the bevel pinions. 47. The gear 48 extends through the lower wall of the power chamber and engages the gear 18 of the lower plane while the ear 49 extends through both the upper am? lower walls of the power chamber and above the same engages the gear 19 of the upper plane. any suitable means is made for controlling the clutch and engine from the pilot house 10. It will be obvious from this arrangement that in the event either plane presents a. greater resistance to the air the gear-wheel designed to operate said plane Wi l compensate for such decreased movement throu' h the medium of the differential. From t e above described construction it will be appreciated that the respectiveu per and lower planes are driven in reverse irections, and in this connection it is to be understood that the respective wing sections 41 of the respective planes are reversely arranged.

Provision of Mounted on each alined pair of the upper and lower side bars 3 and4= is a segmental orcurved trackway 50 and arranged above said trackway within the mainframe is a car platform 51. Trucks 52 are secured to the platform and provided with rollers or wheels adapted to travel on the trackways .50. The platform is of a size to surround the standard 1, and is formed with a central opening 53- about the standard whereby the platform may have a movement independent of the standard. Passenger carrying cars 54 are mountedon the platform so that the latter is balanced, that is independentof the control of the operator the cars 54: will operate to maintain the platform at direct right angles to the longitudinal plane of the standard 1, thereby distributing the weight equally on opposite sides of the standard 1 with the efi'ect to maintain the'air ship upright. The respective cars are connected by cables 55 and-56 with a drum 57 arranged within the pilot house the cables passing through ap ropriately formed openings in the standard and upwardly within the same to the drum about which they are oppositely wound. The hand wheel 58 controls the movement of the drum 57 so that the operator may shift the platform o the trackway 50, thereby favoring one side. or the other of the standard with an excess Weight and tending to tilt the air ship from the vertical.

It is, of course, understood that the main frame 2 is of rect angular shape and that in orderto control .thedirection of travel of the air ship means must be provided where by the depressed end of the frame under the shifting of the weights described will point in the direction desired. To this end means must be provided whereby the main frame may be turned at will, and to this end I mount within the ower chamber upper and lower levers 59 an 60, which project through the respective walls of the power chamber and are terminally provided with friction disks 61 adapted respectively to engage appropriately formed plane surfaces of the upper and between the upper and lower frames of the structure and controlled by a cable 66 lead.- ing within the pilot house; The cross bars 6 of the main frame are preferably extended lower drive gears 19 and 18. Cables 62 and 63 project from the respective beyond the side bars to provide feet 67 for stability of the structure when at rest.

In connection with the oppositely revolving wing planes it will beunderstood that by such opposite revolution I correct any tendency of the machine itself to revolve as would be probable if but a single fan or two fans revolving in the same direction were used. Again no power is wasted in the current of air created as would result from but a single fan. The air set in motion by passing 'through one fan is, of course, rapidly revolved in the direction of the fan, and the current thus created is simply lost as power unless it is counteracted by an opposite air current. This is gained by the use of the second oppositely revolving fan. -Furthermore the rims of /tlre planes are of material weight, whereby to increase the gyroscopic effect in action and at the same tlme tend to maintain the moveevent of accident to the power apparatus.

While preferring that the various parts of the structure be made of metal it is to be understoodthat any other material, as wood or the like can be used with equal facility. Furthermore, the arrangement of parts within the power chamber and pilot house 'is'to be such as to maintain a balance on opposite sides of the standard, and in the power chamber this can be most effectively gained by duplicating the power apparatus with the respectively similar parts arranged on opposite sides of the standard, thereby not only balancing the wei ht but providing an emergency apparatus f or use when desired.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new,' is I 1. An. air ship including, astandard, a wing member rotatively mounted on the standard near the upper end of the latter, a second wing member rotatively mounted on ter, and driving mechanismfixed to the said wing members operating planes at, right angles to the e standard.

2. An air ship including a standard, a wing member rotatively mounted on the ngth of the standard near the upper end of the latter, a

.11. the standard near the lower end. of the lata standard intermediate said wing members, in parallel latter, drivin mechanism fixed to the standard intermediate said wing members, a curved track arranged below the second wing member, and a weight adapted for travel on said track.

4. An air ship including a standard, a wing member rotatively mounted on the standard near the upper end of the latter, a second wing member rotatively mounted on the standard near 'the lower end of the latter, driving mechanism fixed to the standard intermediate said wing members, a curved curved track arran ed below the second wing members, a weight adapted for travel and means for turnin on said track, means for operating the weight, whereby to provide an excess thereof on one or the other sides of the standard,

the standard to direct the excessively weighted portion of the air ship in any direction.

6. An air shi including a standard, spaced wingmemliers rotatively mounted on the standard, driving means carried by the standard intermediate said wing members and adapted tooperate the same, manually controllable means whereby to move the standard in either direction through the driving mechanism, and shiftable weights to vary the balance plane of the air ship.

7 An air ship including a standard, spaced wing members rotatively mounted'on the standard, driving means carried by the standard intermediate said wing members and adapted to operate the same, manually controllable means whereby to move the standard in either direction through the driving mechanism, a platform extending on oppos te sldes of the standard and having welghted ends, and means for shifting the platform to vary the distance between the respective weights and the standard.

8. An air ship including a standard, spaced wing members rotatively mounted on the standard, driving means carried by the standard intermediate said wing members and adapted to operate the same, manually controllable means whereby to move the standard in either direction through the driving. mechanism, a platform pro ecting on opposite sides of the standard, passengercarrymg cars supported by the opposing ends of the platform, and means for shifting the platform to vary the distance between the respective cars and the standard.

9. An air ship including a standard, spaced wing members rotatively mounted on the standard, driving means carried by the standard intermediate said wing members and adapted to operate the same, manually controllable means whereby to move the standard in either direction through the driving mechanism, a platform PIOJGCtiIlg 'on opposite sides of the standard, passengercarrying cars supported by the opposing ends of the platform, means for shifting the platform to vary. the distance between the respective cars and the standard, and a track on which the platform is adapted to travel.

10. An air ship including a standard, spaced wing members rotatively mounted on the standard, driving means carried by the standard intermediate said wing members and adapted to operate the same, manually controllable means whereby to move the standard in either direction through the driving mechanism, a platform projecting on opposite sides of the standard, passengercarrylng cars supported by the opposing ends of the platform, means for shifting the platform to vary the distance between the respective cars and the standard, and a curved track on which the platform is adapted to travel.

In testimonywhereof I- afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

THADDEUS s. HARRIS Witnesses:

SUSAN E. Hams,

EMMA HARRIS. 

